This invention relates to a shavings centrifuge or pusher centrifuge for separating solids and/or liquids from various materials, such as shavings from metalworking operations, which centrifuge comprises a liquid-tight basin having a rotatable receiving drum arranged therein which is equipped with a lift bottom and a movable material guide surface, wherein the lift bottom and the material guide surface are displaceable longitudinally along the axis of the receiving drum.
A shavings centrifuge is known, for example, from German Utility Model No. DE-U 89-08,470 and serves for separating solids and liquids from materials. The known centrifuge comprises a machine frame mounted in a fixed position, a feeder funnel connected therewith, and a solid material discharge, as well as a liquid discharge and a cylindrical receiver housing for a receiver drum and a liquid-tight cylindrical basin. The rotationally driven receiving drum, which is equipped with a raisable and lowerable lift bottom, is disposed in this basin.
The advantage of such a lift bottom centrifuge is a better separation of solids and liquids and a continuous throughput of the material. Besides this advantage, however, such centrifuges can also have disadvantages. During centrifugation, it can occur that elongated materials, such as, for example, rods, flaps or felts, enter the centrifuge. The lift bottom of the centrifuge is connected with the material guide surfaces by pins. Under some circumstances, these materials can catch or hang up on these pins, and this can lead to clogs in the centrifuge, and thereby to disturbances and/or interruptions in the operation of the centrifuge.